Back to London

23:41
Alyson Tart
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The last two months have been hectic. Crazy, crazy hectic.

They have found me in Dallas, Beijing, Shanghai, Aberdeen, Dubai, Wales (twice), Copenhagen,
the Scottish Highlands, and back to the US again. See what I mean? And
while I feel so blessed to have experienced them all, I am so ready to
be back in London for a bit, sleep in my own bed, wash my clothes, empty
out my suitcase, and blog of course.

During those two
months, I did have one weekend at home, and it was a weekend where the
first visitors from family found there way to our flat in London!

My cousins and grandmother

It
felt odd after being the tour guide for everyone in Istanbul, to be the
one working, while Paul showed around our guests. But, luckily, I was
able to spend the weekend with them, both family and tourist time.

One
of the things I had wanted to try with our first set of family was the
London Eye, and so we decided to try it on Friday night. Despite
suggestions from friends, we went with the standard ticket (no fast
track) and were glad we did. We walked straight up at 8:00 pm on Friday
night, no line, no fuss. Probably not the case in the middle of peak season, but we were happy with our luck!

After posing for a green screen photo, we boarded our pod with 3 couples. Again, probably more crowded in the summer, but with a smaller group, we were able to get great views as we moved around the pod.

As you start going around, you first get the best views to the East. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral as it lit up at night, with the Shard peeking out at us as well.

You also get great river and bridge views. From the Somerset House, to Southbank, it is a beautiful, unobstructed view. That is until you start to get to the top. This is the point where I decided it may be best to sit on the bench in dead center and tried to forget how high above the city we were.

A glimpse of our pods

Finally, we crossed over the top with views to the West. These are the views everyone wants - you're right across from Parliament and Big Ben.

Apparently, day time is the most popular to go. While I guess it makes sense, as people are out and about, I always love seeing tourist spots at night. There is something about seeing them all lit up that makes them seem more magical. As we came around the top, Parliament was lit up, and shortly after, Big Ben turned green in greeting to us.

And 45 minutes after we started, we found ourselves (thankfully), back on solid ground. We stopped at All Bar One right next to the entrance for a quick celebratory nightcap, the perfect ending to our evening.